Foodie heaven – Jellied tomato consommé and slow roasted beef

Dinner at Geoff and Marian’s recently set the bar even higher than usual.

We started with a beautiful and light jellied tomato consommé. It was light and refreshing with great flavours – and it looked very pretty.

Jellied Tomato Consommé

850g very ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 bulb of baby fennel, coarsely chopped
½ small Spanish onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, bruised
3 sprigs each of basil and tarragon
30ml (1 ½ tbs) red wine vinegar
3 leaves of gelatine (titanium strength), soaked in cold water
120g cherry tomatoes, halved
120g yellow grape tomatoes, quartered
2 tbs small basil leaves
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
Goat’s curd and sourdough crostini, to serve

• Combine ripe tomatoes, fennel, onion, garlic, herb sprigs and 1.5 litres water in a large water in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer very gently until reduced by half (about an hour).You may need to put the lid on.
• Remove from the heat, then strain through a muslin-lined sieve to yield 750ml (3 cups), add 1 tbs vinegar and season to taste with sea salt.
• Squeeze excess water from gelatine, add to warm consommé and stir until gelatine dissolves. Put into ¾ cup capacity glasses and refrigerate until just set (4-6 hours).
• Combine cherry and grape tomatoes, basil, oil and remaining vinegar, season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and toss lightly to combine. Arrange on top of consommé, spoon a small quenelle of goat’s curd beside tomatoes and serve with sourdough crostini.

Serves 4 – 6 as an entrée

Note: Geoff’s advice was that it takes longer to set than the recipe indicates depending on the dishes that its being served in. He used the double insulated Bodum glasses which we’ve been finding useful for entrees, soup, desserts – and even coffee! The recipe can be largely made the day before and then the fresh tomato garnish added just before serving time.

24 hour beef

There is the slow cooking which we either grew up with or have become familiar with in the last few years with the renewed interest in lamb shanks, Moroccan tagines and the like. This type of cooking produces dishes like 8 hour Greek Lamb shoulder which just falls apart which a fork. Then there is the newer type of slow cooking which requires a modern oven that can operate at very low temperatures. Some of us were introduced to this type of slow cooking on Masterchef – it’s also been seen in modern French restaurants for some time.

Geoff chose to cook a scotch fillet of beef for 24 hours after reading a lot about the best way to do it – drawing heavily from Heston Blumenthal. I can’t provide an actual recipe – but I can explain how he achieved an amazing outcome.

Important note: A digital thermometer that has a control panel that remains outside the oven whilst the prong is in the meat for the duration of cooking is an important tool and Geoff thinks it would be very hard to cook this dish without one.

Method

• Preheat your oven to 55° C
• Sear the scotch fillet well on all sides (this removes chance of bacteria)
• Insert digital thermometer into the thickest part of the meat and set according to instructions.
• Place the meat in an oiled heavy roasting dish and leave to cook.
• About midway through, Geoff raised the temperature to 60° C for a couple of hours. According to the gospel of Heston (and I’m sure others who know about such things), the meat must reach an internal temperature of 55° C to be safe for eating.
• At the end of cooking time, remove from the meat from the oven and cover with foil to rest.

The result? Extraordinary, and I’m not a huge meat eater and I eat beef rarely – so it’s quite something for me to say this was totally delicious and I can’t ever remember enjoying a slice of beef more. You can see from the picture below that the meat retains a lovely pinkness but cooking at such a low temperature makes it remarkably tender. For those worried about the safety of eating such rare meat, it is important that the internal temperature reaches 55 but the bacteria is predominantly on the outside of the meat. That is why when steak tartare is made the outside of the meat is usually removed (apologies to vegetarian and vegan friends)

Note: The whole scotch fillet ( a high quality piece of meat from a butcher Marian has recently discovered) was cut in two before cooking. One of the pieces was left to rest for longer under the foil before being carved and consequently continued to cook a little more. Some people at dinner (not me) preferred the second piece which was slightly more cooked.

The beef was served with a delicious cauliflower puree – a great alternative for those not wanting carbs in their evening meal. This is a more interesting recipe than the average cauliflower puree and I really recommend it.

Cauliflower Purée

1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup butter
1 medium head cauliflower, cut into pieces
4 cloves garlic, peeled
3 cups milk
Salt and pepper to taste

• In a large saucepan over medium heat, soften the onion in 2 tbs butter. Add the cauliflower, garlic and milk.
• Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently up until the cauliflower is tender, about 15 minutes.
• Drain well, setting aside the liquid for another use.
• In a food processor, purée the cauliflower with the remaining 2 tbs butter and no more than a 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. (This is where you can apparently substitute milk or cream).
• Adjust the seasoning and then serve.

Serves 6

Dessert was a luscious chocolate bread cake – a favourite which Marian has now perfected 🙂